With the TES 1326 Infrared Thermometer literally in hand we found ourselves getting real-world temperatures from the products we test at load (3D clock speeds).

There are two places we pull temperature from - the back of the card directly behind the core and if the card is dual slot and has an exhaust point we also pull a temperate from there, as seen in the picture.

As far as temps go, the HD 4550, thanks to its smaller cooler, manages to run warmer than the HD 4670. It does manage to sit slightly behind the 9500 GT, but it's worth noting that the particular card is passively cooled.

Sound Tests

Pulling out the TES 1350A Sound Level Meter we find ourselves quickly yelling into the top of it to see how loud we can be.

After five minutes of that we get a bit more serious and place the device two CM away from the fan on the card to find the maximum noise level of the card when idle (2D mode) and in load (3D mode).

The smaller fan does manage to be a bit quieter than most, coming in at around the 60dB mark.